Buddy Duress was a famous actor famous for his roles in acclaimed productions like Good Times and Heaven Knows What has passed away, have a look at his cause of death and net worth
Buddy had a very troubled time with the law and got locked up in New York City’s Rikers Island at least 10 times.
Good Time actor Buddy Duress cause of death, obituary, bio, age, family, wife, movies list and net worth
Talented actor Buddy Duress (Heaven Knows What, Good Time, Mass State Lottery) has sadly died. A harsh life on the streets gave his acting a next level authenticity and rawness. A real loss. RIP🌹 pic.twitter.com/AHQLaA00Ff
— Jake Hanrahan (@Jake_Hanrahan) February 24, 2024
Buddy had drug addiction issues and even spent almost a year homeless while on the run from authorities.
Buddy Duress passes away
Renowned actor Buddy Duress passed away last year in November 2023. However, his brother Christopher Stathis, publicly revealed the news about the actor’s tragic death only on Tuesday, February 23, 2024.
Cause of death
According to reports, Buddy Duress succumbed to a cardiac arrest, which came as a result of a drug cocktail.
Buddy Duress bio
Buddy Duress, born Michael C. Stathis, was an actor who was born in May 1985, in Queens, New York. He was most for his roles in two indie films directed by the Safdie Brothers. Despite his success on the screen, Buddy had a very troubled past, battling with drug addiction issues. He was just 38 years old at the time of his death.
While nothing is known about his marital status, he was believed to be single and unmarried. He had a net worth of $250,000-500,000.
Buddy Duress acting career
Buddy started out his acting career in 2014 when he starred in Benny and Josh Safdie’s feature ‘Heaven Knows What’. During an interview in 2017, Duress revealed that he first met Josh back in 2013, right after he got released from Rikers Island in New York City. Duress was incarcerated on drug charges during that time and was evading authorities after he had fled a court-mandated drug rehabilitation program.
Police eventually arrested Buddy and returned him to Rikers Island. In fact, he remained incarcerated during the premiere of ‘Heaven Knows What’ at the 2014 New York Film Festival. When speaking about the incident he stated that if he had gone to that program, he wouldn’t have been in Heaven Knows What, and he would never have become an actor. Following his release from prison the filmmakers approached Duress to share about his experiences behind bars. This project became an inspiration for their script for Good Time, and three years later, Duress starred in Good Time alongside Robert Pattinson.
After his success with Good Time, Duress featured in several films like 86’d, The Mountain, and The Great Darkened Days. However, authorities arrested Buddy in 2019 due to charges of grand larceny in the third degree. As a result he returned to Rikers to serve his time.
Buddy Duress unreleased projects
Buddy Duress had two unreleased projects at the time of his death. One of those projects is a short film titled, “Skull”, while the other project was a feature film called “Mass State Lottery”. Mass State Lottery, directed by Jay Karales is set for a release sometime later this year.
Following his death, Karales shared:
Buddy Duress was a once in a lifetime charismatic actor and a genuinely humble man that left an impression on everyone he met. I was extremely fortunate to be able to direct him and get to know him off-set during our time shooting Mass State Lottery.”
He added that Duress’ death was both tragic and frustrating and a loss of great talent. Karales called Buddy Duress a irreplaceable actor and the John Cazale of our generation.
ALSO READ: Chelsea vs Newcastle United preview, team news, tickets & prediction